Page 9 - AAA JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2018 Online Magazine

planned capacity growth. Locally- occurred is the first step in a wider slow- one-off slots available.”
based airlines are already having down in capacity growth in China that no Bernstein says that
to rethink their development plans one expected.” The capacity issues may “customer feedback on
with instructions from authori- well give rise to an A380 order but more each has been extremely
ties that new services can only likely Chinese airlines will up-gauge from positive, which we heard
be launched if existing services A320s to A321s, 787-8s to -10s etc. again from operators in
are dropped.” The capacity pot Twin-Aisle Contenders Asia last week.” And
is effectively full at the major air- o, there is absolutely no question that bullish sentiment is
ports in China says the report that Asia is and will continue to backed up by passen-
and this may be a window for be growth central but how will ger’s feedback to ratings
the A380 with Airbus courting Sthat impact the order books and agency AirlineRatings.
China for orders with co-produc- respective strategies of the big two man- com which reports “very
tion. According to Bloomberg a ufacturers. Wide-bodies have dominated high levels of passen-
French official “has confirmed Asian skies for decades as the capac- ger satisfaction” for the
that discussions are underway ity constraints of Nartia and Hong Kong A350 and 787. Bernstein
about an Airbus partnership with kept the 747 as the dominate aircraft for says that while the
China on the A380 superjumbo, decades. Those capacity issues have business case for the
while saying nothing is yet ready been replaced by others and the 747 buy mid-size widebodies is a
for signing.” The report says that the 777-300 buy widebodies are still pop- big tick “the challenge in
Airbus “could hand over some ular with many airlines using them for long this space is at the large
interiors and finishing work if haul and then a short haul sector. In air- end, at or above 350
Beijing agrees to buy more of the craft finance meetings in Hong Kong in seats. The A350-1000
slow-selling double-deckers.” November between airlines, lessors, air- (at 350 seats) has an
This deal if it come to fruition will craft OEMs, Steve Udvar-Hazy (Chairman, acceptable order book
build on the Tianjin final assembly
line, which opened in 2008 and
has built more than 350 A320-
series aircraft. Production at that
plant is moving to five a month
by 2019. Back to China’s airport
issues OAG notes that whilst
capacity growth at the emergent
secondary markets in China such
as Hangzhou, Chengdu, Jinan and
Chongqing continues for many
airlines, further access to the ‘Big
Three” cities and their airports is
central to their development and
their requirement for additional
aircraft in the coming years.
“The new airport development at
Daxing, Beijing will in theory alle- Air Lease Corporation) placed strong as a variant of the A350-
viate some of congestion issues emphasis on the widebody market, saying 900. But, we have been
at Beijing Capital as both China that it remains very good, despite concerns concerned about the abil-
Southern and China Eastern relo- commonly expressed over the past two ity of the engine for that
cate to the new facility. However, years says Bernsteinresarch.com. The model (Trent XWB 97k)
unless dramatic increases and real strength, however says Bernstein’s to deliver on fuel burn,
consistent access to air space report, “appears to be around the new given that the fan size is
can be guaranteed, it may be that models, specifically the A350-900 and constrained by the same
the slowdown in capacity that has 787. Each of these models appears to be nacelle as the A350-900.
largely sold out through 2021, with some

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